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The Perseid meteor shower lasts from mid-July until the end of August, and it is one of the most impressive displays of shooting stars there is – here is your guide to spotting it

One of the biggest lacunae on Wikipedia is its lack of an entry on Natasha Hausdorff, a London barrister and expert on international law who happens to work with the UK Lawyers for Israel. She has a sterling background:

She holds law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv Universities and was a Fellow in the National Security Law Programme at Columbia Law School. Natasha previously worked for Skadden Arps, in London and Brussels and clerked for the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Chief Justice Miriam Naor, in Jerusalem. She regularly briefs politicians and international organisations and has spoken at Parliaments across Europe and at the United Nations.

Hausdorff is, along with Douglas Murray, one of the most eloquent and articulate spokespeople for Israel.  In this Triggernometry interview, highlighted by a reader today, and which I watched during lunch, Hausdorff debunks several of the Big Lies that propel opposition to Israel: Genocide, Apartheid, and Occupation—all at bottom expressions of antisemitism and, according to Hausdorff, expressions of modern “blood libel.”

I have watched so much Hausdorff that her arguments here aren’t that new to me, but I love to hear her speak. Like Pinker, she speaks in complete sentences and paragraphs. For those of you who don’t know how international law applies to Hamas vs. Israel, you could do worse than watch this one-hour interview of Hausdorff with hosts Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster . The hosts don’t ask softball questions, but they do allow the interviewee to express her views.  Don’t miss the Jew-hating Palestinian propaganda clips interpolated in the interview!

As for me, I’m sick to death today of the endless hatred and bickering about politics, hatred that doesn’t seem to be diminishing despite everybody’s calls for comity after the assassination attempt on Trump. Rather than express my own malaise and grumpiness, I’ll just ask readers to read and follow the posting Roolz if they haven’t. Please pay attention to the rules about civility towards other commenters and the host, as well as the rule about dominating threads.

And now, I give you someone who’s always civil. I’ll be back tomorrow with, I hope, a better disposition, as well as a science post and who knows what else.

Research achieves scientific breakthrough in understanding cell division.

Our immune system is always on alert, detecting and eliminating pathogens and cancer cells. Cellular control mechanisms cause diseased cells to present antigens on their surface like signs for the immune system. For analysis of the necessary complex antigen processing and transport processes in real time, researchers have developed a 'cage' that is opened with light to release trapped antigens at a specific place and time.

Researchers have been the first to demonstrate that not just individual bits, but entire bit sequences can be stored in cylindrical domains: tiny, cylindrical areas measuring just around 100 nanometers. As the team reports, these findings could pave the way for novel types of data storage and sensors, including even magnetic variants of neural networks.

Researchers have been the first to demonstrate that not just individual bits, but entire bit sequences can be stored in cylindrical domains: tiny, cylindrical areas measuring just around 100 nanometers. As the team reports, these findings could pave the way for novel types of data storage and sensors, including even magnetic variants of neural networks.

A new study on common food aromas may help explain why astronauts report that meals taste bland in space and struggle to eat their normal nutritional intake. This research has broader implications for improving the diets of isolated people, including nursing home residents, by personalizing aromas to enhance the flavor of their food.

Carbon capture is a promising approach for mitigating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Different materials have been used to capture CO2 from industrial exhaust gases. Scientists developed hybrid CO2 capture materials containing sodium carbonate and nanocarbon prepared at different temperatures, tested their performance, and identified the optimal calcination temperature condition. They found that the hybrid material exhibits and maintains high CO2 capture capacity for multiple regeneration cycles at a lower temperature, making it cost- and energy-effective.

When natural gas leaks from a subsurface pipeline, a ground cover of water/snow saturation, asphalt paving or a combination of these can cause the gas to migrate away from the leak site up to three to four times farther than through dry soil, a new study has found. A research team also found that these surface conditions can impact the speed of the leaked gas, as well, traveling 3.5 times faster than an equivalent leak under dry soil conditions.

New research shows that ozone concentrations at Carlsbad Caverns National Park frequently exceed Environmental Protection Agency health standards, likely due to oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin and surrounding region.

A new study has unveiled surprising findings about mercury pollution: where it comes from and how it moves through the environment vary significantly depending on the ecosystem. In drier regions, most mercury is deposited through rain and snow. In wetter, forested areas, gaseous mercury from the air sticks to leaves, which then fall and carry the toxin into the ground.

A new study shows that an AI tool can draft responses to patients' EHR queries as accurately as their human healthcare professionals, and with greater perceived 'empathy.'

A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 146 known moons.

Physicists are developing quantum microscopy which enables them for the first time to record the movement of electrons at the atomic level with both extremely high spatial and temporal resolution. Their method has the potential to enable scientists to develop materials in a much more targeted way than before.

A strange 'garden sprinkler-like' jet coming from a neutron star has been pictured for the first time. The S-shaped structure is created as the jet changes direction due to the wobbling of the disc of hot gas around the star -- a process called precession, which has been observed with black holes but, until now, never with neutron stars.

The liquid hydrocarbon seas, lakes and rivers on Titan have varying compositions and signs of active tides or currents

To even out the intermittent power supply from wind and solar, we need to build vast energy storage facilities. It turns out the best solution might be cheap, simple ideas like heating bricks and lifting weights

The official definition of a planet, which famously saw Pluto demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, doesn't really work for worlds outside of our solar system. Now there is a fix – but Pluto is still left out

James Blilie came through with a photo contribution, but of course we need more.  The captions for James’s photos for today (taken yesterday in Oregon) are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:

These photos are from this morning (15-Jul-2024), taken on an easy hike to Wahclella Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, near our home.

Our son Jamie is home from WSU Pullman for the summer and is mostly working; but we hike at least once a week on his days off.

This is a pretty easy hike to a spectacular 60-foot high waterfall.  It’s close to Portland, Oregon, so it gets lots of traffic.  If you don’t like crowds, go any time other than Memorial Day through Labor Day!  I was able to exclude the large numbers of tourists by careful framing and waiting.

The creek that goes over the falls is Tanner Creek and it is known by local birders as a good spot to see American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus; a.k.a. water ouzels). Today fully justified that reputation.  We found Dippers all along the stream, including a juvenile bird that was (successfully) begging food from its parent.  All the photos of the Dippers are taken by our my son, Jamie, the family wildlife photographer.  Dippers get their name from their odd behavior of “dipping” up and down on their legs, perhaps signaling to other birds.

First some stage-setting:  Photos of the hike that I took.  At the lower end of the trail.  A basic view of falls.

Next, some basic portraits of the Dippers.

Then photos of Dippers foraging on rocks in the fast moving water of the stream.  The insects or insect larvae they were feeding on seemed to be abundant.  In one photo, the bird seems to have shining necklace of water and it shakes the water off its feathers.  These birds swim very readily and they are fast under water.

Then photos of the juvenile Dipper begging from its parent.  One photo showing it calling for food.  The other shows the parent at upper left and the juvenile at lower right:

Finally my photo of the bird photographer (Homo sapiens) at work with the falls behind him.

 

Equipment:

Jamie:  Nikon D5600 (crop factor = 1.5), Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 DG OS HSM Lens (225mm-900mm equivalent; quite a sharp lens), Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED lens, Nikkor AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens (an amazingly sharp lens that goes 1:1 macro and is a great portrait lens)

Me:  Olympus OM-D E-M5 (micro 4/3 camera, crop factor = 2.0), LUMIX G X Vario, 12-35mm, f/2.8 ASPH.  (24mm-70mm equivalent), LUMIX 35-100mm  f/2.8 G Vario  (70-200mm equivalent)

Astronomers have discovered multiple “pits” on the surface of the moon – these look superficially like craters, but on closer inspection are actually vertical pits. There has been considerable speculation that these pits might be cave openings. Now, an analysis of data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 2010 reveals that at least one of these pits is in fact a cave opening.

The pit is located in the Mare Tranquillitatis, near the site of the Apollo 11 landing (the Sea of Tranquility) and is therefore called the Mare Tranquillitatis Pit (MTP). It is 100 meters across and 130-170 meters deep. The study used radar data at a downward angle which was able to image the sides of the bottom of the pit, showing that there is a possible conduit there for an underground cave system. This conduit is at least tens of meters long, but could be much larger.

While this is exciting, it’s not surprising. One hypothesis is that these lunar pits are “skylights” of underground cave systems, carved out by lava tubes when the Moon was more geologically active. If true, then it’s possible that they are extensive, and can also be quite large. Why is this so exciting?

There are two main reasons NASA and others are interested in lunar caves. One is geological – such cave systems might be billions of years old, and therefore can preserve lunar rocks by protecting them from the radiation and micro meteors that pummel the lunar surface. When we send astronauts back to the Moon (or even just highly capable robots) they could explore these caves and are likely to make some interesting discoveries about the Moon.

But the second application is the most intriguing. I have deliberately buried the lede here, partly because I suspect most readers know where this story is going. Such lunar caves could be ideal locations for future lunar bases. This is for the same reason they are good locations to do some geological investigations on the Moon – the caves are protected. This is something that science fiction shows give very short shrift to, and for this reason perhaps is greatly underappreciated by the public. Space is a very dangerous place, and not just because it’s largely a cold vacuum. Space is full of radiation, and stellar systems are full of fast-moving debris.

The Moon has no significant atmosphere or magnetic field to protect the surface, so it is bombarded with galactic cosmic rays. These are high energy particles that diffuse the galaxy, mostly from supernova and other high energy events. They are comprised of 87% protons, 12% helium nuclei, and 1% other heavier nuclei, and represent about 75% of the radiation hitting the lunar surface. From Smithsonian:

According to NASA, the standard radiation dose for a person on Earth is about 0.0036 Sv/ year (0.36 rad). The Apollo astronauts received an average radiation dose on the skin of 0.38 rad — equivalent to two head CT scans. Overall, Apollo 14 received the skin dose of 1.14 rad, which was the highest. All this during missions not longer than 12 days.

How long could an astronaut survive on a surface lunar base? We don’t really know. The longer they are there, the more radiation they are exposed to, the more DNA damage they get, and the higher their risk for cancer. But cosmic rays are not the only risk. There are also solar storms. The solar wind is another form of constant radiation – plasma from the solar surface, including electrons, protons, and alpha particles (2 protons and 2 neutrons). Since these are mostly charged particles, a magnetic field could protect from them, but again, the Moon does not have one. Also – there are solar storms and coronal mass ejections. If these hit the Moon they would be much more dangerous to astronauts, even potentially fatal.

There are also micro meteors, and larger meteors, that hit the lunar surface. On the Earth, such particles would burn up in the atmosphere, but on the Moon they just hit the surface. These could potentially cause massive damage to any lunar surface station.

All of these hazards can be avoided, however, if a lunar base were built under ground. You could also build a base with a 2-3 foot thick concrete wall, which would block a lot of radiation and micrometeors, but that would not be as good as just building the base underground. This is where lunar lava tubes, pits, and cave systems come it.

The MTP, for example, might be an excellent site for a lunar base. That far under ground there would essentially be no radiation, and you would be protected from all but the largest meteors. In the permanent shade of the caves there could also be volatiles in the lunar regolith, including water. Tubes could even theoretically be sealed off and pressurized, creating a large living area. There are challenges, however. One is simply getting down through the deep pit into the cave. An astronaut could climb down on a rope, or be lowered, but that is not very safe or convenient. Ideally a large elevated can be installed from the bottom of the pit to the surface. That kind of infrastructure will take time to install on the Moon, however.

The second challenge is that the walls of such caves, protected from weathering effects on the surface, could be very sharp. Space suits might not fair well in such an environment. Imagine walking through a cave of glass where one tear in your suit means death. This is a solvable issue, but is one more engineering problem that will need to be tackled. Robots, for example, could be equipped with machinery that will polish down the surfaces of the cave, making them smooth and safe. Of course, this will be after scientists get all the data they can. Or at least there will need to be some sections of the cave left pristine for scientific investigation, while other sections are smoothed down for habitation.

All this is still a bit speculative. We need to get probes down into these caves to see what the actually conditions are. But if they are truly billions of years old, which seems likely, then they are also likely highly stable. There are estimates, however, that some of these lunar caves may be huge, hundreds of meters across – large enough to build a small city in. The potential benefits of these locations are too huge to ignore. If we want long term or permanent occupation of the Moon, lunar caves are the likely option.

The post Evidence Suggests Lunar Cave first appeared on NeuroLogica Blog.